Merkel calls for European rating agency

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined the chorus of European leaders calling for a new European ratings agency after Moody’s cut our debt rating to junk and a similar move by Fitch with Portugal last week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined the chorus of European leaders calling for a new European ratings agency after Moody’s cut our debt rating to junk and a similar move by Fitch with Portugal last week.

She has backed similar views by Commission president Jose Manuel Barosso and her Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble who believe the US-based agencies are biased against Europe.

Chancellor Merkel reiterated that “the Chinese now have a ratings agency” and emphasised that the European agency should be structured upon the “European economy” and not individual states, in a TV interview.

Referring to the possible rescheduling of the Greek debt, she expressed her fear that it would have a “negative effect that the country might not work hard” on the necessary restructuring of the country.

Merkel’s approach to the handling of the debt crisis has been criticized in Germany.

The President of the German Bundesbank Jens Weidmann said there was a perceived lack of strategy to deal with the crisis.